Kinshasa was a village on the south bank of the Congo when Stanley passed through in 1877. He returned in 1881 and established Leopoldville on the banks of contemporary Kintambo and Ngaliema. A post was opened upriver at Kinshasa in 1883. In 1923 Leopoldville was named the capital, comprising both Kinshasa and Leopoldville, established at Kalina (now Gombe), while "old" Leopoldville remained the capital of the Province. The Leopoldville-Kinshasa agglomeration was renamed Kinshasa in 1966.

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Thursday, December 4, 2014

I came across
this photo today and was intrigued to learn more about the Grémio Portugalia so
soon after my recent post on the subject (See Nov. 1, 2014).The setting is similar to an image I
found a few months ago that appears to be a fair celebrating the Centennial of
Belgium’s Independence in July 1930.

The Grémio Portugalia booth at the fair

Local
authorities organized a “Kermesse”, or festival, on the sports grounds in front
of Ste. Anne church where the U.S. and Portuguese Embassies face Ave. des
Aviateurs today (See Feb. 6, 2011). In addition to
the Grémio, “Chez Thomas Cocktail Bar” catered the beer garden while SEDEC
Motors (See Jan. 9, 2011) displayed the
latest Chevrolet cars.A tree was
planted at Place Braconnier (originally Place de la Gare) to commemorate the event (See Jan. 23, 2011).

The official
transfer of the colonial capital from Boma to Kinshasa had been completed in
April with the arrival of Governor Tilkens’ Secretariat staff.1930 was also the 45th
anniversary of the founding of the Congo Free State in 1885, and a
commemorative “Te Deum” service was held at Ste. Anne’s in June.At the local government level, District
Commissioner De Bock was preparing plans to relocate and segregate the African
townships (See July 31, 2011) some 3
kilometers south of the burgeoning commercial center that Kinshasa (Gombe) had
become (See Mar. 13, 2011).

Place Braconnier in the mid-1950s looking towards the Cité in the distance

Congolese were
not invited to join the festivities in Kinshasa, but were expected to be
patriotic about being Belgian subjects.Separate sports events to this effect were organized in the African quarter.The following year, Father de la
Kethulle (Tata Raphael) and students from St. Joseph school began to drain the
marsh in the new African township to create a football pitch for African
players. This site, adjacent St. Pierre Parish (built in 1932), was later to
become Kinshasa’s first stadium, Stade Reine Astrid (now Stade Cardinal Malula)
in 1937 (See. Feb. 12, 2012).

Sports events for Congolese at the Belgian Centennial in Leopoldville - July 21, 1930

Saturday, November 1, 2014

In the 2000s,
this building on Ave. de l’Equateur across from the Patisserie Nouvelle was
occupied by the French petroleum company ELF.When I returned to Kinshasa in 2011 for the TASOK Reunion,
it was vacant (SeeJuly 3, 2011). Such a
prime location in the heart of Kinshasa’s original business district must have
housed something important.It
turns out it was the original Portuguese Club, the “Grémio Portugalia”.

The Gremio building in 2006 -- Ave. de l'Equateur

Portuguese
traders were an early fixture in Kinshasa.The Portuguese had been established along the Atlantic coast
since the 15th Century. Portuguese mariner Diogo Cao reached the
mouth of the Congo River in 1482 and Portuguese missionaries who followed entered
into what was initially an egalitarian relationship with the Kingdom of the
Congo.At Berlin in 1885, the
wedge of the Congo River was granted to King Leopold to give the Congo Free
State access to the sea, separating Cabinda from Angola.In 1887, Portuguese still outnumbered
Belgians in the Congo by 570 to 46.

Diogo Cao erects a monument at Shark's Point, Banana

After the
railway from Matadi reached Leopoldville in 1898 (See Jan. 23, 2011),
Portuguese shopkeepers became the predominant commercial operators, buying
African produce and selling imported goods to Europeans and Congolese
alike.In 1900, a Congo Free State
postal agent, Leon Tondeur, recorded the presence in Leopoldville (Ngaliema) of
the Mampeza company (Comptoir Commercial du Bas-Congo) and Freitas and
Barreira.As Kinshasa (Gombe)
began to develop as the commercial heart of the city (See Mar. 12, 2011),Portuguese
commercants set up shop in increasing
numbers, including Nogueira (1902), Madail (1906), Amaro & Diniz (1906), and
Pereira, etc.

The growing Portuguese
business community founded a chamber of commerce, the Grémio
Portugalia (Portuguese Guild) in 1917 under the leadership of David Diniz
and Barosso Araujo. In November 1921 the Grémio was legally registered at
Kinshasa.The previous July, on
his way through Kinshasa from Katanga, Sylvain Danse recorded the founding of
the Portuguese “cercle” on July 8, 1920 in a building constructed of galvanized
roofing.In his published book, he
reported information that the club had moved into a more substantial building.

The Gremio building under construction

During his visit
to Kinshasa In October 1922, (See Sept. 12, 2011) Belgian Minister
Carton de Wiart described a soirée held in his honor at the Grémio.The following year, journalist Chalux
attended an event honoring the anniversary of the Portuguese Republic,
recording the performance of a brilliant concert, followed by a ball.But the most fulsome witness was
Gabrielle Vassal, the spouse of the Red Cross doctor in Brazzaville.She enthused,“a few months
ago they opened their club”

“A
big well-constructed building in the centre of the town. On the ground floor is a tea-room and
billiard-rooms, on the first floor a hall with a platform at one end and great
open doors on three sides giving access to a broad veranda. It has an excellent floor and is as
cool as can be hoped for in this climate…Many enjoyable evenings have been
spent here…We go to the Grémio for the apéritif, dine with friends, and dance
the whole evening.”

The Gremio looking south from the Place de la Poste

The Gremio on Ave. Beernaert

In 1922, as
well, the Luso Sporting Club was formed, and the team competed in matches
against Belgian and UK (mostly employees of Lever Brothers) teams, including
one in February 1922 played against a Belgian team during the visit of Angolan
Governor General Norton de Mattos.Some Luso Sporting players were subsequently recruited by the other
teams and only in 1926 was the Amicale Sportive Portugaise established, which
soon became known as the Amicale Sportive de Kinshasa. Portuguese players were
aggressive, considered unsportsmanlike and were sometimes subjected to such
epithets from the sidelines as “sale nègre” or “macaque”, terms normally
reserved for Congolese.

A football match in the 1920s - the pitch was in front of Ste. Anne Church

In the 1930s the
group opened a Portuguese language school on the grounds of the Grémio.Thirty students received instruction in
the first three grades of primary school.Presumably classes were held in the Gremio facilities, which would have
been mostly vacant during the day.The Gremio provided housing for a teacher and was hoping for financial
support from the Portuguese Government, which the Director of the Banco de
Angola had promised to seek.

The Gremio in the 1930s - Note the site of Patisserie Nouvelle is vacant

The Banco de
Angola was the successor in 1926 to the Banco Nacional Ultramar, established in
1919 -- the second bank in Kinshasa after the Banque du Congo Belge opened in
1909 (See Aug. 3, 2014). It was located on Place Braconnier
across from the original railroad station where the Gallerie Albert building is
today (See. Mar. 29, 2011)

The Banco Nacional Ultramarino facing Place Braconnier

The building on
Ave. Beernaert also housed commercial space on the street level, including the Au
Modern store.The shop sold fabric,
notions and clothing, as well as a incorporating a grocery and a small restaurant.A menu in 1932 offered light meals as
well as beverages from the Brasserie de Leopoldville.

The Gremio and Au Modern on ground floor

During World War
II Portugal’s status a neutral country created issues in the colony.Portugal was a major conduit for
Belgians escaping occupied Europe to join Belgium’s lone allied outpost.In addition, the Benguela Railroad in
Angola provided a critical link in ensuring imports of fuel and exports of
strategic minerals from Katanga.However, the same flexibility allowed German agents access to Congo, and
the diamonds of Kasai, in particular.After the war, business as usual resumed.In 1947, the Casa Portuguese was founded and in 1949 the
Casa de Portugal formally replaced the Grémio.

In January 1956, the association solicited bids for
construction of the Casa Portuguese on Ave. Kasai south of Ave. de Gaulle (now Ave.
du Commerce).

In 1938, the
Portuguese Consulate was located on Ave. Tombeur (Tombalbaye) in the heart of
the Portuguese commercial district.In 1957, a new Consulate opened on Ave des Aviateurs next to the new US
Consulate (See Jan. 29,2011).

The Portuguese Embassy in 2006 -- Ave. des Aviateurs

After
Independence in 1960, the Portuguese community created a school that assured
Portuguese language instruction and curriculum for its expatriate members. The
Colégio dos Portugueses opened in 1965 off Ave. Kasai, south of Ave. du
Commerce, about the time the new TASOK campus (1966) and the Belgian School
(1968) opened.

Inauguration of the Colegio de Kinshasa

The Colegio de Kinshasa - Ave. Kasai

The Amicale
Sportive Kinoise (successor to ASK) was created in March 1968 and obtained
“personalité civile” in 1972.The
Association’s legal address was 27 Ave. Stanley, the headquarters of the
Nogueira firm, one of the leading Portuguese companies in Congo.

Amicale Sportive Kinoise letterhead - 1980s

The ASK Pool 1980s

The acquisition
of foreign-owned businesses resulting from the “Zairianization” campaign in
1973 and the “pillages” of 1992 and
1993 significantly reduced the presence of Portuguese business people in
Kinshasa.Nonetheless, in 1996,
the Portuguese community reopened the Colégio (closed since 1992) and
incrementally began to upgrade the ASK facility located in Joli Parc in Commune
Ngaliema.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

On
the morning of August 3, 1914, the German community of Kinshasa, as well as
several hundred specially-recruited able-bodied Congolese, left port for the
Sangha River, the main artery serving eastern Kamerun, then a German
colony.The mission of the “Dongo”, a steamer of the Kamerun
Schiffahrt Gesellschaft company, was to link up with German forces and ships
located on the Sangha and return in force to seize Kinshasa and
Brazzaville.Unfortunately for
German aspirations, French troops out of Brazzaville aboard the “Albert Dolisie” were on their heels and
by August 6 the “Dongo” was captured
and German plans to control the upper Congo and Ubangi Rivers were dreams.The Great War had come to Leopoldville.

The “Albert
Dolisie” at Ouesso on the Cameroun border

Authorities
in Leopoldville and the colonial capital at Boma did not learn of the formal declaration
of war in Europe until August 5th.The Belgian government authorized aggressive action against
the Germans and on August 28, Georges Moulaert, District Commissioner in
Leopoldville, seized the German commercial vessels “Congo” and “Lobaye”
(renamed Liege and Haelen, respectively).

The "Liege" in port

The
first German attack against the colony, however, took place in the east on Lake
Tanganika when an armed German steamer out of Kigoma attacked the “Alexandre Delcommune” operating from Mtoa north of contemporary Kalemie. District Commissioner Moulaert dispatched the “Netta”, a fast riverboat (18 knots) that
had just been delivered to Leopoldville for service on the upper river.Equipped with heavy weapons when
launched on the Lake, the “Netta”
would help turn the tide against the Germans and ultimately secure a victory
for the Force Publique at Tabora in contemporary central Tanzania.The epic story of the naval battle on
the Lake is generally accepted as the inspiration for the novel and movie The African Queen though there is some academic disagreement.

The "Netta" on Lake Tanganika

German firms had
been present at Stanley-Pool since the turn of the century, assuring the port-rail
link between up-river commerce and the ships of the Hamburg-based Woermann
Line, which called regularly at the seaports of Boma and Matadi.The Belgian Société Anonyme Belge du
Haut-Congo (S.A.B.) invested in the Sud-Kamerun company and allowed the new
firm use of its facilities at Kinshasa (See Mar. 13, 2011).After 1912, when Germany extended its colonial
holdings in Cameroun to reach the Sangha, the Kamerun Schiffahrtwas
created, absorbing the Sud-Kamerun fleet.The following year, the French, Belgians and Germans formed a cartel in
which the Germans obtained a monopoly on traffic between Kinshasa and the
Sangha, the French on the Ubangi River and the Belgians the Congo and its
tributaries.

View of the Citas installations at Kinshasa around
1914 – Note Hotel ABC in background

At the end of
September 1914, the French authorities in Brazzaville requested Belgian
assistance in putting down the remaining German positions on the Sangha.The Belgians armed one of its newest
steamers, the SS “Luxembourg”, with machine
guns and a 47 mm Nordenfelt canon, and dispatched it to the front with a
detachment of 60 Congolese troops under Lt. Bal.The Luxembourg
returned to Kinshasa with wounded at the beginning of November, and then in
December led a 6-vessel fleet back up to the Sangha where the German troops
were vanquished in the last days before Christmas. The focus of the War in
Belgian Africa now turned to Lake Tanganika.

The SS "Luxembourg"

The “Netta” was delivered to Kinshasa by
Robert Goldschmidt, a Belgian engineer who was something of a techie of his
era.In 1908, he had prepared
designs for wood-burning steam vehicles for transport in the Congo and in 1912
began construction of a wireless telegraph network linking the major cities of
the Colony. On his trip to Congo at the end of June 1914, he brought the first
Ford Model T ever introduced to Congo.The car was a sensation!Leopoldville was only 10 minutes from Kinshasa.After the War, when the Protestant
missions were planning the Union Mission Hostel (UMH, now CAP) in 1920 (See Mar. 27, 2011), the necessity of a Ford was written
into the terms of reference for the new facility.

Ford truck on Ave. de la Douane. Note the Cominex
building later occupied by Photo Zagourski.

On the eve of the
War, the Belgian government decided against Commissioner Moulaert’s
recommendation to transfer the colonial capital from Boma to Leopoldville (See Jan. 23, 2011).However, there were other changes in the administrative
structure of the colony.Leopoldville
was named the capital of a new province, Congo-Kasai, while Kinshasa became the
seat of the Territoire in the new District du Moyen Congo.In March 1919 Kinshasa became the seat
of this District.

The District Building on Ave Crespel (Bandundu)

Kinshasa was
beginning to grow and outpace Leopoldville.American ornithologist, James Chapin, returning to Kinshasa
in December 1914 after 4 years on an expedition for the American Museum of
Natural History observed,

Kinshassa has grown
amazingly.Where formerly there
was almost nothing but a state post and a depot of the SAB there is now a large
and important town, with hotels, a bank, quantities of magazines, steamboats and
a European barber.To the north
side are the very extensive installations of the “Compagnie Mbila” (Lever Bros)
and back inland, a little further away, the wireless station.Leopoldville shows but slight signs of
growth in comparison.

Lever Brothers,
known informally as Compagnie Mbila (for the oil palm), was bringing its palm
oil operation on line, with Kinshasa as the base for five huge palm oil
plantations established on the Congo River and its tributaries.The palm oil storage facilities of the
Huileries du Congo Belge and attendant installations were built on land
purchased from the Baptist Mission Society and NAHV to the west of downtown
where Marsavco is today.

The installations of the Huileries du Congo Belge. This is where the TASOK 2011 Reunion river
cruise started

The Banque du
Congo Belge opened its new colonial headquarters in Kinshasa during the War, as
well. The relocation acknowledged the increasing importance of the Leopoldville-Kinshasa-Ndolo
agglomeration over the colonial capital at Boma.The bank was a private firm that also served as the central
bank of the colony.Founded in
1909, it opened its first branch in Kinshasa in August 1910 opposite the train
station (Place Braconnier).In
1911 when Albert Thys visited Kinshasa to select a site for the Hotel ABC, he
also reserved a one-hectare site across Ave. Baobabs (later Hauzeur, now
Wagenia) for the new Bank.The
land claim was approved in May 1912 and construction of the Mediterranean-style
building would have commenced about the same time as did the ABC.

The Banque du Congo Belge. The building is currently occupied by Monusco on Ave. Wagenia

An oil pipeline
was completed from Matadi in 1914. The idea was to reduce dependence on fuel
wood to power the steamer fleet, but the cost of the imported fuel, notwithstanding
the inconvenience of frequent stops to resupply the steamers with wood, limited
the utility of fuel powered engines until after Second World War.Petro-Congo’s depot was located
upstream from the Citas landing (where Ave. des Industries begins today).

Kinshasa had
already displaced Leopoldville as the main river port and construction of an
expanded port was approved in 1913.But in March 1914, the Colonial Ministry decided not to proceed with
construction, though it awarded prizes to the designers. Some minor, additional
assessments were conducted and most of the commerce continued to be handled by
private landings such as Citas and NAHV.However, by early 1917 after the steamer “Elisabethville” was sunk off the French coast, it became necessary
to stockpile 30,000 tons of colonial exports in Kinshasa to avoid overwhelming
Matadi.Clearly upgraded port
facilities at Kinshasa would be a post-war priority.